15 Ways To Fight Multiple Sclerosis Fatigue

Multiple Sclerosis Fatigue is one of the number one symptoms and complaints of multiple sclerosis. And unfortunately one of the #1 reasons that many people with MS end up on disability. Multiple Sclerosis fatigue is real, and a prominent symptom for as many as 85-95% of those with MS.

Here are 15 ways to fight against fatigue. Just the little things that you do each and every day can make a difference.

1. Be aware of medication side effects. Anti-depressants are well known to have a side effect of fatigue. Talk with your doctor and determine what side effects each medication your on has.

2. Drink a sufficient amount of water: Dehydration can cause fatigue and many people with MS don’t like to drink water because they suffer from an over active bladder.- I’m guilty of this one. Our bodies need water for energy and to remove toxins, so don’t scrimp on this one.

3. Improper breathing: Shallow, short breathes will reduce the amount of oxygen coming to your cells, therefore making you feel fatigued.

4. Not exercising: Ok, so you’ve heard this one a number of times on how exercise increases energy. There’s no excuses regardless of what level you are at with your MS. Bed Top exercise, chair exercise, and standing up –we’ve got you covered at You Can Do It.

5. Depression: Not accepting multiple sclerosis, being depressed about your current life will cause depression and the by product fatigue. Using techniques to change your mental outlook and your thinking such as “Theatre of the Mind”. Will allow you to relive all the good things that happened to you in the past and therefore remove depression out of your life.

6. Too much heat: Heat increases your disabilities and fatigue and just makes you feel bad. Anytime out in warm weather I can go from walking normally to barely walking at all. Stay out of the heat, use a cooling vest, and look for activities that keep you cool like swimming.

7. Avoid Simple Carbohydrates: White bread, white pasta, and sugar slow you down and fatigue you. Keep up on a diet of whole foods consisting of fruits and veggies.

8. Vary Routine: Toss up your normal daily schedule. Each one of us needs some variety each day.Plan something for the future that you can look forward to.

9. Experiment with aromatherapy: Peppermint and jasmine essentials oils are known to be energizing. Put a few drops on your collar of your shirt to smell during the day, or take the container of peppermint with you and take a sniff when your feeling fatigued.

10. Go to bed at the same time every night Most people don’t get enough sleep, and leg spasticity may be keeping you up at night.

11. Reduce your weight: Being overweight will make you feel fatigued. Watch what you’re eating and exercise to maintain a healthy weight.

12. Not Pacing, Planning, or Prioritizing Your Life: It’s important to have balance in your life. It’s important to balance fatigue and rest. Devise a plan on what needs to be done and organize your tasks so that they are manageable.

13. Eating Breakfast Everyday: When you first wake up your blood sugar is low, eating a proper breakfast is an energy booster. Skipping breakfast drains your energy contributing to fatigue.

14. Check out your iron levels: If you’re not getting enough iron that you may feel fatigued. Eat fish, eggs, fortified cereals, and beans to fight against multiple sclerosis fatigue.

15. Last but not least: Fatigue is a symptom of MS and you should not feel bad when asking for help. Spend your energy on what matters and determine what you can ask others for in helping you conserve your valuable resources.

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For those of you who responded to my “I Am Desperate For Feedback”, I really appreciate it. I have taken your advice, found a new doctor and I am trying to get off as many meds as possible. This new plan of attack is working really well. Please continue to send me your comments, ideas and feedback.

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Hello All!
I am going crazy trying to figure out what is going on with me.

I recently changed neurologists because I wasn’t getting anywhere with my old neuro. The new Dr. ran lots of blood tests and ordered new MRIs.

Yesterday I had a consult with him and he told me my MRI hasn’t changed since my last one 3 years ago. He told me my symptoms do not correlate with my MRI and as a matter of fact, my MRI isn’t characteristic with MS.

He also tested me for other things like lupus, lyme disease, etc. but everything came back normal.

He told me that my symptoms are psycho-somatic, basically not real and that I have a deeper issue than the symptoms.

I am stunned. Has anyone else gone through this before? Is it possible for me to have symptoms but all tests come back negative?

As I write this, I am fatigued, some of my fingers don’t work like they should and I have tingling all down my right side.

The first article I saw was entitled “How to Talk to Someone with MS”. For lack of a better response…OMG, finally! Thank you for writing this article and putting this issue into perspective.

Please read the article here. If MS or any other circumstance for that matter, is a part of your life, this article will give great insight, reminding all of us that the disease does not define who we are. Being a wife, mother, sister, friend, co-worker, artist, author, performer, contributor to society and the many other roles we play defines who we are as a person.

AnonyMS makes a great point when she says “Sure, it’s helpful to have an MS mentor–and chances are, your MS’er has already reached out to someone…” Many friends and family members may be offended if they are not the person the MSer reached out to.

Having MS is very personal. You are no longer in control of what your body does. Some of the things your body does just doesn’t make for good dinner conversation and is uncomfortable to talk about.

Think of it this way…You would never expect a sexual assault survivor to discuss every last detail of their ordeal with you and how they are dealing with it and the treatment options they have selected or not selected to help them cope. You should never expect the same of someone who has been diagnosed with MS.

Yes, you are a close friend or family member to this person but you are not living the battle they are fighting. For someone with MS, it is easier to reach out to a total stranger, a blog, or a support group. Even though no one experiences the same symptoms, they all experience and know The MonSter intimately.

Let your friend/family member bond with their new family found in MS. If they want to reach out to you, they will, but on their own terms and their own timetable, just like a survivor of sexual assault would.

Your job, be their friend and family member they new before MS, not their counselor. Talk to them just as you did before The MonSter started to reside within them.

Take a moment to live inside my body. It goes beyond the every day trials people may face such as being tired after a long day at work, getting the flu, not understanding a math problem or even spraining an ankle. Those trials have a beginning, a middle and an end. My MonSter is here to stay, living inside of me, decaying my body until the day I leave this earth.

Once there to experience your moment within my MonSter, you will experience:

A fatigue like no other

The constant poking of pins and needles growing to a crescendo of stabbing daggers and swords

Complete weakness – the inability to move, to help yourself to the bathroom or a glass of water when you so desperately need it

Confusion. Something you used to do with ease and perfection is now a struggle and riddled with error

Total isolation

When I am lucky enough to have a good day, I can be fun, happy, active, alert, and make total sense. Demands grow, people forget about the MonSter lurking, and waiting to time it’s next attack. The MonSter attack plan is a shrewd one. Taking liberty to attack at the most inopportune times – completely corrupting the peace that had settled in its place since the last attack.

The MonSter is never fair, understanding or selfless.

The MonSter is always selfish, spoiled, demanding, and hurtful.

If you know someone with MS, try to understand the battle and warfare taking place within their body. Understand their good days will not last forever and for that reason, make their good days all the more sweeter because the bad are just around the corner.

If you have MS and are not being heard, or don’t quite know how to explain what is going on, let me be your words. Share this with those who need to live in the battlefield of MS, just for a moment.

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About My Life With MS

Hi!

Welcome to my MS world. I was happily clicking along in life when I had an acute onset of MS in 2005. I was stunned, shocked and left in bed for 6 weeks unable to walk or see. I went into remission and changed my life.

At first I felt sorry for myself:

I was a single mom of a 4 year old

tried to maintain a small house

hold a job

get healthy

manage all the responsibilities I had

I was determined to be positive about my new situation. I refused to let MS take over my life so I embarked on something totally out of character for me…I trained for a triathlon. It was an amazing experience.

Life started to turn around until July 2007 where I had relapse, after relapse, after relapse with the probable prognosis of Secondary Progressive MS. Not exactly what I wanted to hear.

With that news, I needed to change my life again. I quit my job because my body couldn’t handle the physical stress and looked for a job I could do from home. Now I am on a new journey. I work from home as a freelancer and I hope to try and help others find meaning and purpose in their lives when MS tries to take over.